RALEIGH, N.C. — Officials in North Carolina reported a record 1,537 people hospitalized with the coronavirus Wednesday, the third consecutive day the state has hit a new high.
Hospitalizations were reported at 1,423 Monday. On Tuesday, that increased to 1,501, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. The department says its data is preliminary and can change.
DHHS reported 3,367 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the second highest daily increase since the pandemic began in March.
The seven-day average of daily new cases increased to 2,900, the fifth consecutive day the state has seen a record number in that category.
As of Wednesday, 4,898 people have died from COVID-19 in North Carolina.
DHHS reported 9.2% of tests came back positive Monday, the last day for which data was available.
That brought the seven-day average for percent positive tests to 8.1%. State officials have said they want that number at 5% or lower. It was last at 5% on Sept. 24.
Out of all patients, not just those with COVID-19, 937 are on ventilators, making 2,541 ventilators still available.
There are 468 ICU beds and 4,937 hospital beds available statewide.
Gov. Roy Cooper announced a new COVID-19 county alert system Tuesday designed to gauge the severity of coronavirus spread.
Each county is visually charted as red, orange or yellow, with red being most severe and yellow being the least severe.
As of Tuesday, 10 counties were red, 43 orange and the rest yellow.
Classifications are based on new case rates per capita, percentage of positive tests and the impact on county hospitals.
The system follows standards created by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and the state will update the map on a monthly basis.
